Air Jamaica quietly cancels annual ‘Islands In The Park’ Festival

13 May 2004

By Felicia Persaud
Every June, for the past five years, the national carrier of Jamaica has livened Brooklyn’s Prospect Park with music, food, arts and crafts and the distinct culture of the Caribbean.
But this Father’s Day, June 16, the park will be silent, as Air Jamaica officials have quietly abandoned the festival. No public statement has been made by the carrier on the cancellation, but when asked yesterday, an Air Jamaica spokesperson said simply, “The event was not included in our calendar of events for 2004 due to budgetary reasons.”

She added that while no press statement was done, “the decision was not an abrupt one, but one that was made from sometime last year.”

The decision not to issue a media statement is in direct contrast to the carrier’s actions in recent years when the event was held and widely promoted throughout media houses in the Caribbean community, both in the U.S. and the region.

Since last year though, the event had reportedly suffered budget cuts; yet it was held and drew about 20,000 people from across the various Caribbean countries who live in the U.S.

This year, however, the budget axe has completely sliced through and for now at least, the music, the culture and the screams of fans of this festival have been silenced. - Hardbeatnews.com ——-